Military Simulation and Training Market Size - By Type, By Platform, By Solution, and By Simulation Type - Global Forecast, 2025 - 2034

Military Simulation and Training Market Size

The global military simulation and training market was valued at USD 13.7 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% to reach USD 22.8 billion by 2034. The growth of the market is attributed to factors such as increased defense budgets worldwide along with the rising demand for cost-effective and safe training solutions.
 

Tariffs imposed on Chinese electronics and industrial components during Trump’s presidency had a harsh effect on the military simulation and training market. Simulation and training systems often incorporate sophisticated electronic sensors, processors, and display technologies, are imported and faced a cost increase due to trade barriers. Defense contractors in the United States faced severe supply chain problems, especially those with global procurement structures, resulting in project delays and increased spending on procurement due to the higher supply chain expense.
 

Many of these firms were further forced to either relocate production sites domestically or look for new alternative suppliers, which worsened the economic situation. Although some domestic suppliers gained from the changes, the overall impact slowed innovation and increased costs for high-tech training platforms that monitor global technological integration.
 

The increased defense budget worldwide serves as a primary factor behind the growth of the military simulation and training market. For instance, the global defense spending has surpassed USD 2.4 trillion in 2024, which represents a growth from USD 2.2 trillion in the year 2023, as stated by IISS. With the increasing global defense budget, some portion of it is allocated for training and preparedness, particularly in advanced technological formats.
 

Modern militaries are transitioning from conventional training to simulation based training to address the growing complexity of threats. Additionally, these simulation offers large scale training for troops, without the deployment of personnel, vehicles, or ammunitions. This simulation-based training are gaining rapid traction among countries participating in multinational exercise and expanding military force.
 

Military simulation and training providers should develop scalable, technology-driven solutions that replicate complex combat scenarios, enabling cost-effective, large-scale training aligned with rising global defense budgets and the shift toward virtual preparedness across modern armed forces.
 

The rising demand for cost-effective and safe training solutions is another major growth driver for the military simulation and training market. Several live training exercises often involves aircraft, weapons, and ships while posing significant safety risks such as accidents, equipment damage, and even fatalities, where simulation based training are gaining rapid popularity due to their ability to reduce risk of physical damage by creating high fidelity virtual environment. This simulation based training offers cost saving, reusable, and scalable training solutions, which further makes it ideal scale or frequent training cycles, without escalating cost.
 

Military simulation and training provider should focus on delivering high-fidelity, cost-effective virtual environments that minimize risk and enable frequent, scalable training cycles. Emphasizing safety, reusability, and operational efficiency will align with growing defense preferences for digital training solutions.
 

Military Simulation and Training Market Trends

• The rapid adoption of AI driven adaptive training programs, monitors each trainee’s performance and dynamically adjust the complexity and content of scenarios that addresses their individual strength, or weakness is a major trend in the market. The usage of AI ensures continuous analysis of large volume of data from training sessions and provides actionable feedback and highlighting areas of improvement.
   
• The growing emphasis towards development of multi-sensory VR suits, that immerse trainees in virtual environments by combing visual, audio, and haptic feedback is another key trend observed in the market. These advanced suits simulate physical sensation of combat such as recoil, impacts, and environmental conditions, which ensures enhanced realism and engagement. This trend is particularly useful for high risk scenarios such as parachute jumps, battlefield medicine, and close quarters combat.
   
• Another significant trend in military simulation and training market is the increasing usage of AI powered aerial simulators, which uses AI to generate complex and evolving scenarios that mimic real-world threats, weather conditions, and equipment failures. These advanced simulators ensure safe, cost effective training for a wide range of missions while collecting detailed data to further refine pilot skills and readiness.
   

Military Simulation and Training Market Analysis

Based on the type, the military simulation and training market is bifurcated into live, virtual, and constructive.
 

• The live market was the largest growing market and was valued at USD 6.61 billion in 2024. Live exercises are irreplaceable and essential for realistic combat readiness such as battlefield conditions, troop movement dynamics, and weapons system performance. Also, the growing emphasis towards multinational exercise such as NATO’s DEFENDER-Europe, RIMPAC, and Red Flag, further rely on large scale training to enhance interoperability. Moreover, the modern technology ensures realistic, safe live fire simulation using laser-based weapon substitutes such as MILES systems, which further propels the demand for hybrid live simulations. The rapid emergence of multi-domain operations (MDO) further requires live scenario, that can integrate air, land, sea, space, and cyber components, thus further expanding the scope of live training deployments.
   
• The virtual market is the fastest growing market and is projected to grow with a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. These virtual training offers cost effective alternative to live training by cutting down costs related to fuel, ammunition, wear & tear, and logistics, which is driving their adoption among budget conscious militaries. Additionally, the advancement in technology has led to development of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR), which ensures interactive, realistic and emotionally engaging training. Furthermore, the rise of AI based adaptive learning systems are increasingly integrated into virtual simulators to adapt training scenarios in real-time, which offers personalized training pathways.
   

Based on the platform, the military simulation and training market is categorized into land, maritime, and airborne.
 

• The airborne market was the largest growing market and was valued at USD 5.63 billion in 2024. The surge in acquisition of 5^th and 6^th generation aircraft such as F-35, Rafale, and Tempest, is propelling the demand for advanced simulators which offers tailored complex avionics and mission profiles. Moreover, the rapid expansion in military drone operation has further fuelled the demand for simulations for UAV piloting, mission planning, sensor payload operation, and swarm control. Also, the increasing fuel and maintenance costs of aircraft pushes the growth of flight simulator, which offers a cost efficient solutions by reducing real flight hours, especially for expensive platforms like jet fighters and AWACS.
   
• The land market is the fastest growing market and is projected to grow with a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period. The growth in this segment is driven by the increasing focus towards the urban warfare and land simulations, which assists training of forces in counterinsurgency, urban combat, and guerrilla warfare scenarios, that are hard to replicate in traditional training grounds. Furthermore, the rapid deployment of land based simulators in peacekeeping and border operation for rules-of-engagement training, non-lethal force simulations, and mountain terrain rehearsals, particularly in regions such as Kashmir, Donbas, and Sahel, further contribute to the growth of this segment in the market.
   

Based on the solution, the military simulation and training market is divided into products and services.
 

• The products market was the largest growing market and was valued at USD 7.86 billion in 2024. The advancement in technology has led to development of AR/VR headsets, haptic feedback systems, spatial computing, and AI-enhanced software, which is a major growth driver for the market. Also, the increasing demand for interconnected and scalable device, that can be integrated into live virtual constructive networks (LVC), and scalable from individual to brigade level operations, further supports the growth of this segment.
   
• The services market is the fastest growing market and is projected to grow with a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. The growth of this market is spurred by the increasing adoption of outsourced training models, which increasingly rely on private vendors for simulation training delivery, instructor services, and training support infrastructure. Additionally, the surge in demand for modular, on demand, and cloud-based simulation services, which ensures remote learning and distributed exercise are further fuelling the growth of this segment, particularly in coalition training.
   

Based on the simulation type, the military simulation and training market is segmented into flight simulators, vehicle simulators, combat simulation systems, command and control simulators, and others.
 

• The flight simulators market was the largest growing market and was valued at USD 5.81 billion in 2024. The sharp increase in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) usage (for ISR, combat, and logistics) fuels need for dedicated UAV flight simulation systems for both remote pilots and mission planners. Also, Flight simulators are essential for rehearsing complex missions involving electronic warfare, missile evasion, night ops, and air-to-air combat under risk-free but realistic conditions, all of which drive market expansion.  
   
• The combat simulation systems market is the fastest growing market and is projected to grow with a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period. The rising complexity of battlefield environments such as urban zones, insurgency hotspots, and border operations, is pushing the demand for immersive combat simulations, that can replicate civilian presence, IEDs, and close-quarter fighting. Additionally, the rapid adoption of immersive and wearable technologies further enables combat troops to train in realistic virtual settings, improving reflexive decision-making and mission rehearsal in terrain-specific and weather-specific environments, which supports the growth of this segment.
   

• The U.S. dominated the military simulation and training market, accounting for USD 4.3 billion in the year 2024. The growth in the country is driven by the increasing global defense budget, with dedicated funds for simulation technologies to enhance training sessions while reducing cost. Also, the region is witnessing rapid adoption of AR/VR, AI, and digital twins technology including projects such as synthetic training environment (STE), which offers immersive training in joint force scenarios and tactical battlefield operations. For instance, according to Statista, the U.S. spent around USD 916 billion on its military in 2023, representing an increase from USD 860.7 billion from the year 2022.
   

• The Germany military simulation and training market accounted for USD 777.7 million in the year 2024. The growth in the region is supported by increasing emphasis towards NATO’s joint training standards, which requires interoperable simulation systems for multination exercise such as DEFENDER – Europe. Additionally, the German military is further transitioning towards digital platforms, with growing government investment towards data driven and network simulated platforms for command and control training. Also, the increasing focus towards cyber and electronic warfare preparedness is further pushing the investment towards cyberwarfare simulations to for critical infrastructure protection.
   
• The military simulation and training market in China is projected to reach USD 3.12 billion by the year 2034. The increasing investment from government towards AI powered decision support systems, simulated warfighting environments and intelligent training systems, along with growing emphasis towards military modernization is further pushing the growth of market in the region. Moreover, several smart camps are increasingly being deployed across region such as Xinjiang and Tibet for terrain-specific training, which rely on AR, sensor data, and automated scoring systems, which further contribute to market expansion.
   
• The Japan military simulation and training market was valued at USD 618.8 million in 2024. The growth in the market is driven by the shift towards proactive defense, due to the increasing tension in the Indo Pacific region, which further fuels the demand for realistic combat simulation and disaster response training. Also, the collaboration of Japan with the US and other allies is spurring the demand for interoperable simulation platforms for joint training exercises. Furthermore, the increasing usage of simulation for training of ballistic missile threats and island defense scenarios pushes the market growth in the region.
   
• The India military simulation and training market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 7.9% during the forecast period.  The ongoing tensions with China and Pakistan has further propelled the demand for fast, localized, and scalable military training programs driving the growth of the market. Moreover, the implementation of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) policy is encouraging manufacturers towards domestic production of indigenous simulation technology. Additionally, the growing emphasis towards UAV simulation, mountain warfare, and joint command training with cost effective domestic solutions, all of which contribute to market growth.
   

Military Simulation and Training Market Share

The market is highly competitive and fragmented with the presence of established global players as well as local players and startups. The top 3 companies in the military simulation and training industry are CAE Inc., L3Harris Technologies, Inc., and Boeing, collectively accounting for a share of 15.5% market share.
 

Leading companies in the market are investing in the next-generation military simulation and training solutions, which combines immersive training environments, AI-driven decision support, and multi-domain simulation integration. The innovation in the market such as real time adaptive learning environments, AI based performance analytics, cloud native simulation architectures, and augmented and virtual reality immersion, are gaining rapid popularity among manufacturers due to their ability to support realistic, decentralized, and on-demand training for a wide range of military units, ranging from infantry squads to space command crews.
 

Additionally, the rapidly evolving demand for multi-domain operations (MDO) readiness, cyber and electromagnetic spectrum training environments, interoperability for coalition and joint-force simulation, and resilience for remote, austere, and high-threat operational theatres is set to increase, which is further driven by the transition towards faster deployment cycles, high complexity scenario planning, and mission rehearsal capabilities under uncertain and evolving conditions. Moreover, the increased deployment of deployable military shelters is a major trend observed across various platforms such as flight and UAV operator training, mission rehearsal for special operations, medical combat simulation and pandemic preparedness, and cyber range exercises for digital combat readiness, which further represents these applications have become critical components in national defense strategies, disaster preparedness, and homeland security trainings.
 

Military Simulation and Training Market Company

The military simulation and training industry features several prominent players, including:

• BAE Systems
• Bohemia Interactive Simulations
• CAE
• Collins Aerospace
• Cubic Corporation
• Elbit Systems
• Indra Sistemas
• Kongsberg Maritime
• L3Harris Technologies
• Leonardo DRS
• Lockheed Martin
• Northrop Grumman
• Rheinmetall
• Saab
• ST Engineering
• Textron Systems
• Thales
• The Boeing Company
   

CAE Inc. is a dominant player in air, land, and maritime military training simulation and offers integrated solutions across the domains. Its primary focus includes full-mission, virtual reality, augmented reality, and even whole training centers. CAE has unmatched position in platform-agnostic approach which leads to optimized operational readiness tailored to specific requirements. The extensive global network and lifecycle maintenance ensure mission training readiness, capturing the sophisticated technological prowess and skill of instructors, making CAE Inc one of the top providers of realistic training simulations across the globe.
 

L3Harris Technologies, Inc.'s specialization in the Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) simulation training systems distinguishes it in the military simulation and training market. The special border for developed L3Harris is that the company is capable of multi-dimensional systems and multi-scope systems. From a l3Harris perspective, integration, assimilation, and data encryption of high-precision simulators in various domains is achieved. In addition, L3Harris provides fully adapted warfare, simulation, and training systems that provide services to world armies.
 

Military Simulation and Training Industry News

• In October 2022, The PLEXSYS Utilities Team has launched the Simulation Platform Interface (SPI) 1.4 software. SPI serves as a primary part of the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Block 40 Mission Crew Training System (MCTS). It interfaces as a data gateway for the AWACS mission computing software ASCOT and the Sonomarc communications suite.
   
• In July 2022, Thales Training and Simulation collaborated with Hadean to expand team which delivers advanced operational training solutions to the UK Ministry of Defence. The next generation platform from Hadean integrates large scale data and computation to create a single platform that supports synthetic environments and digital twins.
   
• In October 2021, Rheinmetall and Thales supplied servicing and maintenance support for 20 contemporary Tiger simulators located at Le Luc, Fritzlar, Pau, and Phalsbourg. The eight full-mission simulators and twelve cockpit procedure trainers allow crews to train on the most current model of the aircraft in service.
   

The military simulation and training market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecasts in terms of revenue (USD Million) and from 2021 to 2034, for the following segments:

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By Type

• Live
• Virtual
• Constructive

By Platform

• Land
• Maritime
• Airborne

By Solution

• Product
• Services

By Simulation Type

• Flight simulators
• Vehicle simulators
• Combat simulation systems
• Command & control simulators
• Others

The above information is provided for the following regions and countries:

• North America 
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe 
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
• Asia Pacific 
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • South Korea
• Latin America 
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
• Middle East and Africa 
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • UAE